feedback

[heatherrenee4]

as dumb and scary as this may be lol, ( i have seen some comments posted on other photographers pictures, i would like some feedback on what i do right or what i could improve on. (on my recent albums please. i have been taking some clases and know some of the problems with my older albums.) 🙂 thanks! https://www.facebook.com/heather.renee.ours

[IHF]

As an amateur I would say… Nice family snap shots 🙂

but, you’re in business so I have to be more critical.  I see lots of under exposure going on, and misuse of light.  You’re not using flash when you should be, and you don’t seem to be using any light modifiers either, and your editing doesn’t try to make up for that loss..  Your photos aren’t horrible, but they aren’t professional either.  To me it looks like photos that could be taken by anyone with a capable camera.  I know you only wanted me to look at your recent albums, but a skimmed through all of them. (Besides, being that you began just last spring, they are all recent anyway). I honestly don’t see a difference between newer and older shots other than your editing is cleaner with a more SOOC feel.

learn flash, learn light modification and how to use light to your advantage, and then work on good directing/posing.  I think learning how to meter would benefit your shots  as well. And pay more attention to those backgrounds!  Lots of trees coming out of people’s heads

I hope I was some help to you, and you get more comments that you can use as well.  Good luck to you

[cameraclicker]

I agree with IHF, and will add try to focus on the eyes.  It could be Facebook but some photos are reasonably sharp and others seem off.

[nairbynairb]

IHF and cameraclicker said what I was going to say… except: Get off those train tracks! Not only is it dangerous, but it’s extremely cliché

[heatherrenee4]

well, considering they are abandoned, it’s not dangerous. thanks for your input though 🙂

 

[IHF]

Heather, you have to understand too, WHY photographers used railroad tracks in photos, and why amateurs and people still learning still shoot them to this day.  It’s all for good leading lines in an image, and to learn how they work to enhance a photo.  They are easy to find, set up in camera, and shoot, so they will always be a quick “go to” when learning or when you just need a quick easy shot location.  thats why photographers are bored with it and say its cliche.  because its over done and over used, and has been seen more than unseen.  but that doesn’t mean you couldn’t learn from shooting them.  The way you are shooting on the tracks doesn’t accomplish good leading lines, and doesn’t add to or enhance your images in any way.  Look up “shooting on train tracks for leading lines”, and then move on from there.  I think this will help you to understand good composition, where the idea came from, and inspire you to experiment with it and see how it all works.  I bet with a little time and a better understanding you will find leading lines everywhere and come up with some great new locations to shoot.

 

[heatherrenee4]

i will do that. i do appreciate all of your feedback and insight.

[CoastalTog]

Before you bring the camera up to your eye, look what’s behind your subjects and how far from your subjects the background is. You have a few images where the trees are impeding the visual appeal of your subjects. We often like to post our  subjects directly against a tree when in fact, the tree becomes a distraction.  Position your family a few feet in front and using your depth of field knowledge you can expose to get your family tack sharp and the tree becomes a piece of blurry goodness.  Also, if you’re going to use a tree, post, or something that will rise higher than your subjects as a backdrop make sure they don’t sprout out of their  heads.  Before I even raise the camera there’s three things I’m going to determine: 1) what aperture I want to use to achieve the depth of field I want 2) how is the available light falling on my subjects (do I need to use flash) 3) what is behind my subjects. These things greatly reduce the I amount of time in post production and yield more pleasing images.

Learning flash is very easy. Getting it off camera is simple with some cheap triggers.  There are many video tutes covering off camera flash. I always recommend  the AdoramaTV channel on YouTube. The quicker you incorporate flash into your workflow, the better you will progress. You don’t always need flash but it’s good to know when you need it.

Lastly, output sharpening for the web is a critical yet overlooked process for new photographers. You should be resizing and sharpening your images differently for web use then you do for your hi-res images for printing.

[heatherrenee4]

thank you very much for you advice. i appreciate it 🙂

 

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